Well-prepared European-style fare in a storefront setting

PRUE SALASKY247-4784

Modest and unpretentious, manages to overcome the shortcomings of its small-box, storefront location to offer a delightful Italian getaway. The open, rectangular room leaves little to the imagination, but earth-toned walls soften the harsh lines and colorful murals provide some visual interest. A partition creates privacy for a few.

Though a lyrical, Bocelli-style soundtrack masked much of the conversation, we were still unwilling eavesdroppers to the birthday celebration at the linen-clad table to one side and a job interview being conducted on the other.

Over the course of the meal, though, the quality of the reasonably priced fare successfully blocked out these minor distractions.

And the professionalism of our European-born server successfully swept us along with his perfectly paced delivery of the meal. As with any exceptional skill, it's impossible to pinpoint exactly its elements. Dressed in formal white shirt and black tie, he started with taking our orders, coaxed an order of a glass of Cabernet ($6) from us, delivered bread and successive courses and added special touches through the custom application of fresh-ground pepper and Parmesan cheese, all without seeming to interrupt or disturb us.

Even with a less adept server, the food would have merited attention in its own right. Appetizers of shrimp, mussels, eggplant, calamari and mozzarella offered variety within an Italian framework. Our choices of two soups, stracciatella ($4.95) and chicken ($4.25), proved ideal introductions to the meal. The stracciatella, was essentially an Italian egg drop soup with spinach, in a chicken base, and improved by a scattering of fresh-ground parmesan. As agreeable as it was, it couldn't match the chicken soup, an exceptionally tasty version with diced chicken, carrots and pasta.

A basket of warm garlic breadsticks accompanied the salad, refreshing from its lack of dressing choice. Included with the entrees, it consisted of greens tossed with onion threads, olives, tomato and carrots, all dressed in a well-balanced, light vinaigrette. Our only decision was whether to accept an addition of ground pepper.

Main course choices rely heavily on pastas - ravioli, penne, lasagne, tortellini, linguine and fettuccine - with a variety of fillings and sauces. Additional menu sections feature multiple chicken, veal and seafood selections. The night's special promised a combination of seafood with pasta. We opted instead for a sampling from the listed pasta dishes and one from the half dozen veal variations. The veal Monte Carlo ($16.95) brought several tender scaloppine topped with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and mushrooms in a rich wine sauce served over spaghetti. Scrumptious.

Some of the same ingredients - the tomatoes, mushrooms and the artichoke hearts - repeated in the fettuccine "Al Fresco" ($13.95), a remarkably inexpensive platter topped with a couple of shrimp and chicken pieces in a white wine sauce.

Dessert choices are listed on a separate tri-fold menu with illustrations depicting such classics as tiramisu and bomba. From several fruit flavors, we selected a lemon sorbet, encased in a lemon shell, and for contrast a chocolate fondant, a layered chocolate cake. The frozen lemon was light and puckery, the chocolate not too sweet, European-style, leaving a good taste without being overfilling.

Somehow Al Fresco has captured a European style of dining - not fancy or overblown, and often downright simple - that emphasizes well-prepared dishes in simple surroundings. By using several repeating and ready-prepped elements it guarantees consistency while offering diners the essentials of good eating.